Settling in

View out the front door - serious

The bit where Camille projectile vomited 8 times between 9 pm and 1.30 am 2 nights ago doesn't count, right? That is settling in of the wrong kind - as was my feeling a little bouncy in the puku for a couple of days at the same time. And Rosalie being traumatised by being summonsed to the board to do long division (when did that stop being considered pedagogical best practice?) - that doesn't count, either. Neither does Em having to do everything until I figured out how to drive on the right hand side of the road (sweet - done).

Same front door

But everything else does. I think things can be divided into 2 categories: Home and Away. Away first. Away has been a challenge for Rosalie, who is 'manning up' admirably. Most expat kids here head to one of 2 or 3 schools in which English is the dominant language of tuition, but she's chugging down to the local school where the only English spoken is by the kid who sits next to her, and who has been doing a sterling job helping her out. We knew the different approach to things would be shock, and so it has proved. Very different, all round, from the tight security around the school (no one seems to know why, as the suburb is unremittingly white and affluent (us aside, at least on the second of those counts)) to the teaching styles/curriculum. She had some rough days, but got through today without too many upsets. Petit a petit ... there is a wonderful woman at the school canteen, Sylvie (known at our house as The Bridget Lady for her resemblance to Rosie's auntie), who is helping her. Dunno what she makes of being called 'Bridget', but there you go ...

'Away' is about to get very interesting for Camille, too. Three job offers have been stitched up for her today: (1) working in the school canteen with The Bridget Lady, (2) working for the local library, and (3) babysitting/English-speaking with a colleague of mine. Some combination of the 3 seems likely. Totally the best one, though (I can't quite believe I'm writing this, and she can't believe it's about to happen to her), is that it looks as if she will have to spend a day doing her military service! Imagine! Just the day, mind - but it's quite a long way away, and we are assured it involves at least carrying guns. One hopes that the situation never arises in which the future of the 5th Republic rests on the basis of that kind of training, but this will prove quite a challenge for Cam in all sorts of respects. No Bridget Ladies in the French Army, I'm picking ...

And the back door

'Home' is settling in nicely. Lovely kitchen; great cooking utensils; warm house ALL the time (which explains why anything over 0 degrees doesn't feel all that cold); lots of space; squirrels in trees; nearby castles; walks in the woods. Haven't had time to take too many inside photos yet, but that'll come. Only drawback is it's about an hour, door to door, to my work, but even that isn't much of a drama when all that's entailed in getting to the bureau is sitting on a bus/tram and looking at mountains.

Tomorrow we head off in the Pepe-mobile for a 2- hour drive north for lunch with friends. The Pepe-mobile is so-called because (1) it's square, (2) it was first registered in the town that Ema's grandfather came from, and (3) it's the same colour as one of her grandparents' cars was. Channeling Jeremy Clarkson, all we know is: It goes like a bomb, has lots of room, and (with petrol costing close to $3 a litre here) will cost us a wee bit less than other cars because it's diesel.

Time to sleep. Thanks to those of you commenting on our ramblings - always good to get news from Les Antipodes. Love to youse all. Les Alter-Shaws.